


Evil Wizard Criminals and Where to Find Them

by orphan_account



Series: Fantastic Vampires and Where to Find Them [1]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/M, Goldgraves, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, im so sorry, supportive Tina, vampire!Graves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-24
Updated: 2016-11-24
Packaged: 2018-09-01 21:49:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8639521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Immortality suits some people. Percival Graves is not one of those people.AKA this is what happens when you think about Colin Farrell playing a hot wizard in one movie and a hot vampire in the another.





	

Graves hadn’t been the same since MACUSA rescued him from Grindelwald. They found him in an abandoned No-Maj warehouse, chained up to a wall in the freezing basement, covered in the tattered remains of his clothing. His normally meticulously styled hair was hanging in greasy strands off the side of his head, and the beard he sported spoke of the time he had spent down there. The Aurors that rescued him were led by none other than Tina Goldstein, and they had only thought it slightly odd that he didn’t seem to have any scratches (or any injuries at all, for that matter) on him despite being locked in a warehouse full of dark magical creatures and beings. It wasn’t until later that they found out what it really meant for their superior.

 

President Picquery must have pitied him. It was the only reason Percival could come up with once he got the news that he would be keeping his position as the Director of Magical Security. Picquery must have felt bad for him, and he absolutely  _ hated _ being pitied. He didn’t want their pity. He wanted to be left alone. Instead the whispers of the other employees followed him down every corridor he walked down and every staircase he climbed. Either nobody thought he could hear them, or they all  _ wanted  _ him to hear them. Percival couldn’t decide which option was worse.

 

“Did you hear what happened? Everybody is saying they just found him like that. . .”

 

“They say he could snap at any moment.”

 

“This must be so hard for him. I can’t imagine. . .”

 

“I’m surprised Picquery reinstated him.”

 

“Why does he still have the job? It’s not like he can even do magic anymore.”

 

The last remark made Graves’ blood boil, and it took every ounce of willpower he still possessed to control the growl in his throat and the snarl on his lips. Not being able to do magic was definitely the worst part of his change. Before he used to be one of the most powerful wizards in the world; now he could barely lift a piece of paper off the ground when it fell. He still kept his wand in his coat pocket, if only because he liked the familiarity of it’s presence.  It helped calm him down, and these days he needed a lot of calming down. It seemed like the only place he ever got peace anymore was his office.

 

“Graves, Madame Picquery wants to speak to us.” A soft voice interrupted his thoughts. Graves looked up, eyes flashing in the low light like a cat’s. Goldstein was standing in the doorway, looking almost hesitant. She wouldn’t even look him in the eye, and the small smile plastered on her face was obviously fake. It was another thing he hated about the change. People used to respect him; they admired him even.

 

People were afraid of him now.

 

“Did she say what it was about?” He replied, not looking up from the papers on his desk. More reports from the other Aurors in the department. It seemed like in the light of finding out Grindelwald managed to impersonate a MACUSA member, more and more people were announcing their allegiance with the wizard. 

 

“No.” 

 

Graves sighed and rose from his chair, glancing up at Goldstein. Now that he was at his full height as opposed to sitting she seemed even more anxious around him. He wished he could just shrink into a ball and disappear, but the thought was quickly dispelled from his mind. There was work to do. He wordlessly followed Goldstein to the President’s office, which was on the same floor as his. Her door was open when the stepped in.

 

“Thank you for coming, you two.” Picquery greeted them formally, as if they had a choice in turning down a private meeting with the President. This was nothing for Percival; he spoke with her at least several times a day. It was the nature of his job. Goldstein, however, looked even more anxious in Picquery’s presence than she had been in his. The thought almost gave him a bit of comfort. “I’m sure you’re both wondering why I brought you here, so I would hate to waste your time. I’m going to be quite frank with you two - I need you to prove to me that you can be trusted to fill the shoes your respective positions require.” She shot Percival a look, and he raised his eyebrows. She just shook her head and continued. “So you’ll both be going on a mission. A number of Grindelwald supporters have been seen in Boston. You’ll be going there and investigating for whatever amount of time you deem necessary. Arrangements have been made, you’ll receive an owl shortly, Graves. After that you’re free to begin. I expect you both to come back with information. I don’t care if it’s good or bad, just give me  _ something. _ ”

Graves only nodded, but Goldstein looked suspicious. “What are we looking for, exactly? Do you want us to put a stop to his followers or do you want information containing their plans?” 

 

Picquery stared coolly at the Auror. “Whatever you two deem is most important, Miss Goldstein.” She replied. Goldstein bit the inside of her cheek. 

 

“Thank you, Madame President. We’ll be in contact.” Graves gave her a short smile before guiding Goldstein into the hall before she could cause anymore trouble. To his relief she didn’t seem to flinch at his touch. 

 

“What was that for?” Goldstein snapped at him.

 

“I was making sure you didn’t get demoted. Again.” He sighed, massaging his right temple out of habit as they both walked back to his office. At least the change meant he didn’t get headaches anymore.”

 

“This is a useless mission. She just wants me out of the way because she doesn’t think I-”

 

“I believe this assignment is more about how I do, actually.” He interrupted. Goldstein looked embarrassed, and he could practically  _ smell _ the heat radiating from her cheeks.

 

“I’m sorry, Percival. I shouldn’t have assumed…”

 

“It’s fine, Tina.” He sighed. If only she knew that she was handling his transformation much better than he was. A moment of awkward silence settled in as they arrived at his office and sat down to wait for the owl Picquery promised. 

 

“You know, Percival…” Tina began, “If you ever need somebody to talk to, I’m here. You know that, right?” 

 

“I’m fine, Goldstein.” His tone sounded more annoyed than reassuring. He resumed looking at the reports, hoping to get a head start on their assignment.

 

“Cut that out, Percival.” She snapped. He looked up at her, eyebrows raised in surprise. “I know you too well for you to be able to lie to me about something like that. You’re not fine. You’re looking more and more exhausted everyday, I haven’t seen you go home  _ once  _ since you started working again - and don’t give me that look, I know you still need to sleep - and you’ve been bothering the potions department every day since you came back. You got turned into a goddamn vampire, Percy, so don’t try and tell me that you’re ok.”

He stared at her, face nearly expressionless. She didn’t miss the flicker of surprise than ran through his eyes, though. “I’m fine. I promise.” He lied. He didn’t tell her about how he stayed in his office all the time because he couldn’t stand going back home to his blacked out windows; didn’t tell her how he hated reaching his hand out to summon something only to remember he couldn’t do that anymore; didn’t tell her how he couldn’t stand that the light hurt his eyes so badly he had no choice but to wear those god awful tinted glasses even on a cloudy day;  _ especially  _ didn’t tell her how every time he got angry at somebody his first instinct was to just bare his fangs and  _ hiss _ at them-

 

“Don’t lie to me Percy.” Tina pleaded. “I know why you’re going down to potions every day. I know that you’re scared of what you are, and it’s okay.”

 

“I’m not scared of what I am.” He snarled. Tina looked expectantly at him and he sighed. “I’m scared of what I’ll do.” 

 

Tina scoffed. “Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to stop you from causing any trouble.”

 

“Magic doesn’t work on me anymore.” He reminded her. 

 

“You think I need magic to kick your ass?”

 

That was the ticket. Tina witnessed Grave’s smile after months of it’s absence. She loved his smile; he always looked downwards and shook his head while his eyes crinkled at the corners. It made him look more like the boy she had known in school, the boy that asked too many questions and danced with her and was always there for her even if it didn’t seem like it.

 

A large golden barn owl interrupted their moment. It carried a light parchment letter in it’s beak, and held out a claw expectantly. Graves tossed a cracker from a small bowl on his desk into the air, causing the owl to simultaneously drop the note in front of him and fly up to catch the treat in his beak. “Guess this is our call of arms.” 

 

“What’s it say?” Tina asked.

 

“Hotel arrangements, money, clothes… looks like this is leaning towards an undercover op.” He explained. He gave the letter to her to read.

 

“That’s an awful lot of money. How long do they expect us to be staying there?” She asked, eyebrow raised. Percival merely shrugged. 

 

“As long as it needs to take, I guess. And don’t try and pull that ‘this isn’t fair’ act. Missions like this don’t get assigned to newbies. They’re actually rather advanced. Believe me, I’d know.”

 

Goldstein only pouted in response. “So, to Boston we go?” She asked. Graves nodded, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

 

Foot traffic outside of MACUSA is at an all time high, so they were forced to go into one of the hidden alleys to discuss their plans.

 

“Should we stop by the hotel first and get everything settled?” Goldstein asked. 

 

“That would probably be best. We shouldn’t start at night, anyway. I can’t imagine we’d get very far.”

 

“Okay. Boston it is then.” Tina agreed in response. Then, faster than Percival could react, her body disappeared in a cloud of black with a loud  _ pop!  _ and he was alone in the alleyway. His foot tapped impatiently before she apparated back into existence about two minutes later.

 

“I’m so sorry Graves!” Tina looked mortified. “I completely forget you couldn’t apparate, that was so my fault.” 

 

Graves had to suppress the eyeroll he felt coming on. Instead he wrapped his hand around hers and closed his eyes. “Just get this over with. I hate side along apparition.” He growled lowly. As soon as the words left his mouth he could feel Tina’s grip nearly break from his, and if he wasn’t as strong as he was now he likely would’ve let go. A dark, oppressive force pressed in from all sides, forcing his eyes to shut and making his ears pop. To his heightened senses it felt like he was being forced through a meat grinder in the middle of a tornado. It was impossible to breath with all of the pressure on his chest.

 

It was over as soon as it started, and Graves keeled over as soon as he felt his feet on solid ground, hand pressed against the wall to support himself.

 

“Oh, c’mon Percy! I know it’s bad, but it’s not that bad.” Tina joked.

 

“I have… heightened senses.” He choked out. His throat still felt constricted, and it didn’t feel safe to open his eyes quite yet. He was sure if his body could still vomit he would have. This only made Tina laugh more. “This… is NOT… funny.”

 

She calmed down enough to speak. “I’m sorry, but I never thought that you becoming a vampire would make you delicate.”

 

He glared at her before standing up fully, hand still on the wall. “I’m not delicate.”

 

“Of course.”

 

“I’m not!” He glared at her, and started walking out of the alleyway with Tina following behind, still trying to suppress her laughter.

 

The hotel was nice, but it wasn’t lavish. It didn’t have a ballroom, or anything in that sense. It had a lobby, worker areas, and rooms for the guests. It was the type of hotel you stayed at if you were on business, not if you were traveling. The perfect guise for two undercover MACUSA employees.

 

“How may I help you today?” The clerk at the front desk looked bored, and his uniform looked disheveled. 

 

“We had a room booked prior. Mr. and Mrs. Nigel Lancer.” Percival replied cooly, replicating a British accent and delivering the false identities with ease. Tina stood behind him quietly, hands clasped in front of her body, doing her best impersonation of a no-maj wife. 

 

“Ah, yes. You bags were dropped off earlier. Room 807, eighth floor. Enjoy your stay.” His enthusiasm increased at the identity of the customers. Graves assumed the Congress had shelled out quite a bit of dough to make this mission as efficient as possible.

 

They didn’t speak to each other until they were both in the elevator. At least the Congress was kind enough to provide them with a hotel that offered them that luxury.

 

“Nigel, huh?” Goldstein asked. 

 

Graves nodded. “Indeed, love.” His accent was still impeccably British. “And you’re my wife of eight years, Gwendolyn. We come from wealth over on the other side of the pond and decided to tour America for a little bit of adventure in our lives before settling down in Hampshire for my remarkably busy and well paying job.” 

 

Goldstein fought against the laughter trying to force it’s way up her throat. “Ah, I see, my dear.” She replied, using the same accent her partner had acquired. “How clever of the Congress to provide us with these disguises.”

“I came up with them, actually. You think anybody else has the time to create a cover story every time an agent has to do an undercover op?” He laughed bitterly.

 

“I should’ve known.” Tina shook her head. “I thought you were no good at accents? Isn’t it supposed to be the only thing the legendary Auror Graves never managed to perfect?”

 

“I’ve discovered that one of the most useful of my new abilities is being able to replicate voices and accents. I talked to those spokespeople from Mungo’s and they said it had to do with my vocal chords having a broader spectrum now.”

 

The elevator doors opened, and both of them stepped off. It didn’t escape Graves’ notice that their room was right by the elevator. He knew it was meant to be a means of escape in case anything went wrong, although he would most likely just jump out the window if any events of that nature took place. It’s not like an eight story drop could hurt him, anyway, and Tina always had her magic to back on. 

 

The room was just like the rest of the hotel. Properly furnished with everything they could need, but nothing extravagant. The was a small bed, an even smaller couch, a dresser, a closet, and a bathroom with a shower. 

 

“I’ll take the couch.” Percival offered, peeling off his coat and scarf. 

 

“Percy, you’re at least half a foot longer than that couch.” Tina pointed out. He merely shrugged in response before folding his coat into a neat pile. “Don’t be ridiculous.” She sighed.

 

“The couch is fine, Tina.” He insisted.

 

“We could always share the bed.” She was only partly joking.

 

Graves’ tone was more forceful this time. “The couch is fine.” There had been a time in their relationship where they would both have been very willing to share a bed, but that felt like a lifetime ago. Before Credence, and Newt, and Grindelwald… the other wizard’s name tasted bitter on her tongue, and Tina would give absolutely  _ anything  _ to get her hands on him. Laws be damned. 

“Suit yourself.” Tina shrugged. Only a small part of her was hurt. She knew Percival would say no, knew that he wasn’t ready to go back to how they’d been before and might never be ready, but there was still a part of her that hoped.

 

It took hours for Tina to finally fall asleep, and judging from the restless movements coming from the other side of the room Percival wasn’t having much luck, either. When she finally woke up the sun had just finished rising and Percival was sitting at the desk across from her, fully dressed and hair still wet from his shower. The room was bright, and his sunglasses hung off of his nose in front of his eyes.

 

“Morning.” He greeted her. Even before the change, Percival had always been a morning person. Of course that was only because he rarely slept anyway, and she assumed nothing had changed in that department. Tina, on the other hand, was not. She merely grunted in response and dragged herself into the bathroom, hoping a nice hot shower would wake her up. Unfortunately the hotel only had cold water, so her awakening was a bit more sudden than she hoped. Her teeth were  _ still  _ chattering by the time she walked out of the bathroom.

 

“Are you awake now?” Percival asked, his lips curled up  _ just  _ slightly into a smile.

 

“No.” 

 

“Excellent. I thought we’d snoop around Faneuil Hall today; there’s a huge underground wizard market there.”

 

Tina nodded. “That’d be a good place to start. Who knows, maybe we’ll get this done sooner than Picquery thought and we’ll be home by Monday.”

 

As fate would have it, they would  _ not  _ be home by Monday. Four days had gone by and they were still no closer to finding Grindelwald’s followers than they had been before. Both of the aurors were growing restless; Graves’ back ached from sleeping on the couch and Tina was getting tired of cold showers every morning. Than she had an idea.

 

“I don’t think we’re searching deep enough.” She told Graves’ as they were walking down the streets from the hotel.

 

“What do you mean? We’ve been eavesdropping everywhere we can step foot in, even in no-maj shops.” Graves’ especially was beginning to get frustrated with his mission.

 

“That’s exactly it. Eavesdropping isn’t enough.” She pointed out.

Graves stared at Tina for a second before his eyes lit up and a smile danced across his face. “You’re brilliant, Goldstein.” He chuckled. “Are you sure you want to do that though? Things could get ugly.”

 

Tina shrugged. “I’d rather things get ugly than go back to Picquery empty-handed. We already know there’s a group of Grindelwald’s army based underneath Faneuil Hall. Do you think they’ll say no to a powerful witch and a vampire that want to rule over muggles?” 

 

“I know I wouldn’t.”

 

“Exactly. We don’t have a choice.” She argued. “They haven’t seen us around yet, and if they have we can make something up.” 

 

“Okay. Fine, we’ll go with it. But I’m telling you, the second it looks like your life is in danger we’re getting out of here, Picquery be damned.”

 

Tina smiled brilliantly. “We’re only going to pretend to be Grindelwald followers. What could go wrong?” Percival groaned in response, and the pair of them were off towards their destination. 

 

~~~

 

Much like Diagon Alley in London, there was more to Faneuil Hall than met the eye. Yes, there were plenty of no-maj shops and squares and gardens, but underneath it all there were a variety of wizard friendly shops. The entrance was hidden in one of the smaller fountains, and one simply had to walk through it to get into the wizarding world’s Faneuil Hall. 

 

Also like Diagon Alley, Faneuil Hall had a place for more shady establishments. As Percival and Tina walked deeper and deeper down the crooked streets, he had no doubt that a good number of these stores were  _ not  _ legal. 

 

“Oh, I  _ know  _ that is not a dragon egg that warlock was trying to sell to-”

 

“Don’t get distracted, Tina.” Percival hissed in her ear. She shot him an apologetic look. They both stood in front of what might have passed for a no-maj antique store if it weren’t for the fact that most of the wares were, in actuality, ancient dark magical objects. “We’re here.”

 

“Follow my lead.” Tina whispered to him as she walked towards the dark wooden door nestled between the shops macabre display windows. “Don’t reveal yourself just let. We need trust, not suspicion.”

 

“I know how this works, Goldstein.” Percival rolled his eyes. The door opened, and instead of the soft tinkling of bells there was the screech of a crow that almost blew Percival’s eardrum out. The shop owner, a haggard looking old lady dressed in nice (albeit slightly dirty and tattered) robes glanced up at them from the thick book she was reading. Tina payed her no mind, and instead walked over to the potions section close to the desk.

 

“What about this one?” Tina thickened her already prominent New York accent and glanced up at her partner, pointing towards a deep red bottle.

 

“We can’t do anything too suspicious, Marj.” Graves took on a nasally New York accent of his own to match Tina’s. “Those MACUSA rats are after us already.” His tone was low enough to make their conversation private, but loud enough so the shop owner could hear. The old lady glanced over, book now held up to her nose to (poorly) cover her lined face.

 

“They haven’t caught us yet, Harry.” Tina argued.

 

“No, but they will if you don’t wait at least a bit in between moves.” Percival snarled. He allowed himself a quick glance at the shop owner; she didn’t even bother concealing her face with the book anymore and the worn down stool she sat upon was closer the the pair than it had been a minute ago.

 

“If we wait too long then there’s no point. We’re supposed to be showing the damn no-maj’s a lesson, remember?” She swept the crimson jar into her arms and walked over to the front desk. Percival had to duck nearly the whole way; low ceilings and a cobweb problem were his biggest enemies.

 

“Will that be all, my dear?” She asked. Her voice sounded like she had been chain smoking her entire life, and judging by the smell of her breath and the stain on her teeth she had been. Percival’s nose wrinkled at the odor, but Tina seemed unfazed. Another good thing about being a vampire: it completely curbed his need for cigarettes. 

 

“Yes.” Tina replied curtly, digging for change in her coat pocket.

 

“There is something else we’re offering that you might be interested in…” The lady smiled maliciously, eyes darting back and forth between the two. “I couldn’t help but hear your conversation back there, and I know of a group who could use a forward-thinking pair such as yourself.”

 

Tina and Percival shot each other a glance, and the witch nodded. “What type of group are we talkin’ here?” Tina asked suspiciously.

 

The old witch smiled again. “All depends on what you’re looking for. We happen to be sick of hiding from the no-maj’s, and there’s one man who’s gonna change that once and for all.”

 

Percival smiled at the shopkeeper, showing a hint of fang. “No more hidin’ from the no-maj’s? Yeah, I’d say that’s what we’re lookin’ for.” 

 

The shopkeeper practically hopped out of her stool in excitement. “Oh, yes, we could make great use of you two, my dears…” The old hag cackled. Percival nearly rolled his eyes. Why did all evil wizards have to be so  _ cliché?  _ “There is a meeting tonight in this very store. If you decide to join us, be here no later than midnight. You’ll learn everything you need to know there.” 

 

Tina and Percival shared another look, and he could see her barely concealed excitement. Tina looked away and nodded at the lady before grabbing the bottle. “We’ll be there.” She said, and Percival nodded in agreement. The old hag’s eyes twinkled with maniacal glee.

 

“Excellent! Excellent! We will see you at midnight!” She cackled as Percival and Tina left the story and began venturing towards the friendlier part of the Hall.

 

“I can’t believe that worked.” Tina admitted.

 

Percival shook his head. “I don’t know about this, Goldstein…that was too easy.”

 

“It’ll be fine.” Tina reassured him. “We’ll show up, learn about their plans - and maybe even Grindelwald’s, if we’re lucky - and then go on back home to Picquery and tell her what we know.”

 

“I doubt it’ll be that easy. You know how these things usually turn out, especially for you.”

 

“Oh hush. Look at the positive side for once. We’re almost done.” Tina smiled.

 

As fate would have it, they weren’t almost done. When the two returned darkness blanketed the city. The old antique store was even more unsettling at night than during the day, and Percival was grateful for his enhanced night vision. Tina held up the tip of her wand and it began to glow, bathing their immediate area in a soft white light that reflected off of Percival’s eyes like a cats’.

 

An involuntary shiver ran down her back, and it wasn’t because she was cold. Percival didn’t scare her, but some of his new habits were incredibly. . .  _ unsettling _ . The way he moved was too fluid and too silent to be anything remotely human. Whenever they walked into a room his nostrils would flare, like a wolf smelling smelling it’s surroundings for the first time. And his smile - even when his fangs weren’t out his canines had a sharp point to them that screamed  _ danger danger danger.  _ Graves’ used to intimidate people when he was human. Now he downright frightened them.

 

“Remember: be careful, don’t blow your cover, and if anything goes to Hell we are out of there.” Graves’ reminded her. Tina rolled her eyes and nodded before knocking on the door. They were greeted by the old witch from earlier.

 

“Ah, yes, we’re so glad you could make it!” She cackled. “Right this way, right this way, don’t be shy now… yes, yes, just walk right on into the back and you should see a staircase, go up it, yes…” 

 

Percival found the old hag’s speech rather annoying, but did as she asked. He and Tina began climbing up the stairs, listening to the witch below them fumble as she tried to lock the door again. When they reached the top of the stairs they were in a large attack. It was almost completely empty, save the people that filled nearly every corner. 

 

“Just push to the front, my dearies, we want our new guests to hear absolutely everything we have to say.” The old witch pushed the forward into the audience until all three of them were up front. In front of them stood a rather short man raised on a step stool. He was impeccably dressed (as opposed to the other wizards in attendance, who all looked like they got their clothes from the store below) and his hair was brushed back in a style similar to Percival’s own. Unlike Percival, his haircut made him look like a poorly chopped mushroom.

 

The small man looked at Percival and Tina before smiling strangely and clearing his throat. “Settle down everybody, settle down…” The room became absolutely silent. “Thank you all for coming to night. Our work is important, and it’s so enlightening to know that there are a number of brilliant witches and wizards dedicated to our cause.” 

 

Percival looked around. Aside from Tina, none of the other wizards didn’t even look like they knew how to use a summoning charm. Two in the back didn’t even  _ smell  _ like wizards, and Percival was pretty sure they were just homeless no-maj’s.

 

“As you all know, a very important event is coming up. I have been speaking with Grindelwald -” The mention of their leader sent an excited shiver through the audience and a snarl from Percival. Tina slapped his hand and glared at him. “- yes, yes, Grindelwald himself - and he has shared his will with me. There is a second coming approaching, my friends! In two weeks time we will gather here as always and release our fury on the no-maj world!”

 

The strange little man droned on and on about his unrealistic fantasies, and just when Percival was about to fall asleep the meeting ended. He and Tina were about to exit down the stairs with everybody else when the little wizard called them forward.

 

“So, you two are our newest soldiers, eh?” The man sized them up, eyes lingering a little too long on Tina for Percival’s liking. “Oh, I have great plans for the both of you.”

 

“We still haven’t made up our minds.” Tina interjected. “We wanna know that you people are the real thing and not just a bunch of clowns givin’ pretty speeches.

 

“Oh, I can assure you that we’re the real deal.” The man smiled. “My name is Max Spency, leader of the Boston chapter. Like I said, my friends, we are in the middle of a revolution. No longer will wizards - and vampires, I suppose - be subjected to human rule!”

 

“How do we know you’re not all talk?” Tina narrowed her eyes.

 

The man smiled widely, revealing crooked teeth. “In two weeks time our fight begins. We will release our fury onto the no-maj world, and more of Grindelwald’s followers are sure to act as well. We know those MACUSA dogs have our savior locked up, so after our attack on the no-maj’s we will strengthen our numbers even more and free him from his cell.”

 

“Where do you see us in this?” Percival drawled. God, he hated this stupid New York lisp.

 

“Well, this lovely lady here looks like a very talented witch, and you are immune to spells. This makes you both essential to my plan.” 

 

“And what exactly is the plan?” Tina asked.

 

“Oh, you think I’m going to tell it to you that easily? No no no, you have to prove yourselves to me. Now  _ I  _ need to know  _ you’re  _ the real deal, yes? After that we can discuss this more...thoroughly.”

 

“What do you want us to do?”

 

Max smiled again. Percival didn’t trust that smile; it reminded him of a shark circling its prey. “Kill those two no-maj’s over there.” 

 

Tina shot Percival a panicked look, and his breath caught in his chest. “We didn’t come here to kill nobody.” Tina snapped.

 

“Then you can leave, and miss out on the most important event the world will ever see.” The man shrugged. “What, can’t even handle killing a couple of useless no-maj’s? Nobody will miss them. They’re just wasting away in their own filth. And you’re a vampire, for crying out loud!” He turned towards Percival. “You’re telling me you’ve never killed a human before?”

 

Percival rubbed the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable, and Tina couldn’t help but wonder what the answer to that question was. “Anybody can kill a couple of no-maj’s.” Percival growled. “We ain’t just anybody. Why don’t we show you somethin’ more challenging? More useful?”

 

Now Max seemed interested. “Oh? And what is it you have in mind?” He inquired. Tina shot Percival a relieved look.

 

“We can get you important info from those MACUSA rats.” Percival smiled, fangs still showing. Tina had no doubt that they were meant to intimidate the smaller man. “Give us a few days and you’ll know everything you need to know to sneak into MACUSA.”

 

“We already have a plan for releasing Grindelwald.” Max’s tone was uncertain now. 

 

“It’s not a good one.” Tina pointed out. “If you cause a big ruckus over here, MACUSA will know it’s Grindelwald followers and amp their security a hundred percent. It’s better to sneak in, get Grindelwald, and have him lead the revolution.”

 

“I think you’re onto something.” Max smiled. “Yes, yes, what a brilliant idea! Oh, Grindelwald will think I’m brilliant for coming up with it…” He muttered to himself. Tina rolled her eyes. “You can explain in full detail tomorrow. I have some important people I’d like you to meet that would be  _ very  _ interested in this plan.”

 

They both nodded. “Meet us here in the attic, same time.” Percival commanded. The smaller man nodded and waved them off, still muttering to himself about Grindelwald and his brilliance. Percival and Tina didn’t speak again until they were a safe distance from the store.

 

“So now what do we do?” Tina asked. 

 

“He said there were going to be important people tomorrow night. We’re going to subdue them all, arrest them, and take them back to Picquery.” Percival responded. 

 

“That was smart thinking in there. I don’t know what we would’ve done otherwise.” She admitted.

 

Percival shrugged. “I wasn’t going to hurt anybody.” He left out the part where he almost got  _ excited  _ when Max had brought up the two no-maj’s in the back, how his mouth had watered at the thought of finally quenching his god awful thirst with  _ real  _ blood and not that garbage he drank from the potion department back home. His stomach twisted into a knot at the reminder of his lack of a meal for the past week. 

 

“Well I knew that.” Tina laughed. She had so much faith in him, so much confidence that he was still the man from before Grindelwald, that he was still  _ good.  _ If only she knew that sometimes whenever he looked at her something dark and wild took over and he only saw her as food.

 

The rest of the journey to the hotel was silent. 

 

When Tina woke up the next morning, she was surprised to see that Percival was still sleeping soundly on the couch. She narrowed her eyes as she looked back in forth between her watch on the nightstand and Percival’s still form. It was almost noon; they hadn’t gotten back to the hotel until nearly three in the morning and Tina hadn’t fallen asleep til at least an hour after that. Still, Percival rarely ever got any sleep anyway, and certainly never slept past six o’clock at the latest.

 

She debated whether or not to wake him up. He looked so  _ peaceful _ , and that was a rare thing for him. His face wasn’t lined with stress or worry in his sleep. His mouth hung open just slightly, and he clutched a pillow to his chest as he lay on his side, absolutely motionless. On the other hand, she knew how cranky he was going to be if he woke up even later and found out she didn’t wake him. A cranky Percival was  _ not  _ fun to to be around, so as cute as he was at the moment she knew she had to wake him up.

 

“Hey, Percy.” She whispered, kneeling next to his end of the couch. “Peeeercy. You gotta wake up, it’s noon.” He still remained still. She grabbed his exposed shoulder to shake him. “C’mon, Graves, it’s-”

 

Percival was off the couch and on the other side of the room in seconds. He was pressed up to the wall, literally hissing and baring his fangs at her. Tina pressed back towards the couch and instinctively reached for her wand on the table, causing another snarl from Percival. His eyes looked wild and afraid, like a cornered cat.

 

“Percival, it’s me!” Tina shouted. He flinched at the volume of her words. “It’s just me.” She said it quieter this time, using a more calming tone. His eyes became calm again and his fangs retracted. 

 

“I’m so sorry, Tina.” He apologized. His hand ran anxiously through his messy hair. “Oh god, I’m so sorry.”

 

“What happened, Percival?” She asked softly. He looked up at her.

 

“When I was with Grindelwald, I uh, never got much sleep. The only time I could get any was when he wasn’t in the room with me. Everytime he found me sleeping he would push me and shake my shoulders to get me to wake up. It always… surprised me.” He admitted.

 

Tina gave him a pitied look. “I’m so sorry, Percival, I didn’t know.”

 

He shrugged. “There was no way you could’ve. Just uh, try not to do that again.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “That could’ve gone badly.”

 

It was at this moment that Tina realized Percival was only wearing a pair of woolen pajama pants and she quickly turned away, cheeks blushing red. He quickly realized his state of dress as well, and hurriedly threw on a cotton shirt. 

 

“How come you slept in so late, anyway?” Tina asked a while later when they were both fully awake and dressed. 

 

“I’m naturally nocturnal.” He explained. Tina shot him a confused look. “It’s, uh, easier for me to sleep during the day than at night. That’s why I’m also at the office at night, and why nobody can come in during the mornings. That’s usually when I catch up on my sleep.”

 

Tina stared at him. “So while everybody’s complaining about your office being closed during our busiest hours, you’re just taking a nap?”

 

“Believe me, if I had another choice I wouldn’t. It’s like I can’t control it. The minute the sun comes up I’m exhausted, and can’t get myself to wake up till at least noon, and even that’s a struggle.”

 

“Why don’t you just have Picquery adjust your hours?” Tina asked.

 

“I don’t want to inconvenience her any more than I already do.”

 

“Percival, you’re practically what keeps MACUSA together. It doesn’t matter if you works nights or days. Other directors and department heads work nights, too.”

 

Percival merely shrugged. “I’ll ask about it when we get back.” He stated, ending the conversation. 

 

~~~

 

That night they found themselves back in the attic of the store. Max was there, along with three other wizards that actually looked like people Grindelwald would pick to help him. One was a man with long silver-blonde hair, another was a small pixie-like witch with curly red hair and a dangerous smile, and the other was another man with bored looking eyes and short black hair. All three of them stared at the pair in front of them, and at Percival in particular.

 

“I’m so glad the three of you could make it today.” Max greeted the three new wizards. “I-”

 

“Yes, yes, Max. Maybe hiring you wasn’t a bad idea after all. I suppose even a squib can have it’s uses.” The black haired man waved him off. Max looked angry at being called a squib, but kept his mouth shut. “Now, you two. Tell us about this genius plan Max was going on about.”

 

“Okay, here’s how it goes. First we need to sneak into the MACUSA-” Tina began.

 

“And how exactly are we supposed to do that?” The blonde wizard asked impatiently.

 

“Well, pretty easily, actually.” Percival answered. His fake accent was gone. “You’re all under arrest.”

 

Several things happened at once. Tina magicked the door to seal shut just as the three other wizards ran for it. She proceeded to quickly cast a paralyzing charm, which proceeded to hit both the redhead witch and the blonde wizard by some sort of miracle. Then, Max the squib pulled out a  _ gun.  _

 

“Stay back! All of you! Or I’ll shoot!” He shouted, voice cracking. The three others stared at him. 

 

“Put the gun down.” Percival warned.

 

“Yes, Maxwell. Let go of the gun.” The black haired wizard ordered.

 

“Shut up, Silas!” Max shrieked. “You’re not going to ruin my chances of impressing Grindelwald! None of you are!” 

 

“I’ll distract him.” Percival whispered to Tina. She nodded in agreement. “You paralyze Silas.” 

 

“Max, buddy.” Percival took a step closer. Max’s grip on the gun grew tighter. “Just let go of the gun Max.”

 

“No!” The small man shrieked. His eyes were bloodshot, nearly popping out of the sockets. Percival had never seen a man as crazy as this one. “You’re all going to ruin it! Everything I’ve worked for!” 

 

“No we’re not, Max.” Percival replied calmly. He took another step forward.

 

“Listen to the man, Maxwell, before you get yourself killed.” Silas interjected. He didn’t seem concerned at all by the whole situation. In fact, he seemed rather bored with the whole ordeal.

 

“Yes, you will! I had to work so hard to get Grindelwald to notice me, to show him I’m not just some stupid squib! You can’t bring me to jail!”

 

“Just put the gun down, Max.” Percival commanded. The smaller man obliged, lower the gun a little. The wild look in his eyes faded.

 

“There we go, Max. Nice and easy.” He took another step forward, then glanced back at Tina. She got the hint.

 

“Stupefy!” She shouted, a shock of pale red light emitted from her wand towards Silas. It hit him, but just as the words left her lips the same crazed look reappeared in Max’s eyes and he raised the gun at her. 

 

Percival’s vision slowed down. He didn’t see Max pull the trigger, didn’t even realize he was moving in front of Tina. Before he knew it he was on the floor, feeling a strange warmth pooling around him. Tina casted another stupefy spell and Max fell to the floor as well.

 

“Oh God, Percival.” Tina gasped, rushing over to him. He looked down, and realized why she looked upset. His body was riddled with bullets, and he was bleeding steadily through his clothes. “Percival, are you alright?”

 

_ What a silly question to ask.  _ He thought.  _ I was just shot.  _ “Yeah, I think so.” He sighed.

 

“Does it hurt?” Tina asked. Her eyes were clouded with worry, and he could see his own reflection staring back. His hair was disheveled and he looked pale. Nota normal pale, but like he was dead and laid out in a funeral home.

 

“No, actually.” He said. Just then the pain hit him. It felt just like how you’d imagine being riddled with bullets would feel like. He could feel the bullets rubbing against his muscle, could feel the lead lumps grinding against his bones. One bullet felt dangerously close to his heart, and he knew if that didn’t get removed soon it would cause some problems. The pain was  _ unbearable.  _ He fought against the scream forcing it’s way up his throat and only let a small whimper through instead. “Okay, I change my mind. It  _ hurts. _ ” He gasped.

 

Tina’s face turned stoic. She was an Auror, and Auror’s were trained to handle stressful situations like these. She could handle this, dammit. “Okay. I petrified the others, the shouldn’t wake up for at least a couple of hours. I have no choice but to apparate you back to MACUSA and bring the others back later to sort everything out. Do you think you can handle that?”

 

Percival nodded, jaw clenched so tightly he could feel his fangs digging into his lower lip. “Okay then.” Tina sighed. “Do you think you can stand? I cast a concealment spell over us to get inside of MACUSA, but I don’t think I can carry you.” Percival nodded curtly, leaning up against the wall to slowly stand up and then leaning heavily on Tina. It was hard for her to keep him up; he was at least a foot taller than her and she couldn’t help but curse his height as she struggled to keep his weight. Percival hissed in pain when she was forced to wrap an arm around him to keep him steady.

 

“Okay, here we go. Hold your breathe and don’t open your eyes. It’ll be just a second.” Tina reassured him. Percival never actually had to experience what it was like to apparate with bullets lodged in your body, because right before they both disappeared he promptly blacked out from the pain and blood loss. 

 

~~~

 

When he came to he was on a stiff bed, surrounded by white walls. A group of people in white cloaks were off to his right side, clinking around a bunch of metal tools of some sort and whispering in hushed voices. A quick glance at his surroundings told him he was in MACUSA’s medical ward, still fully clothed. The bullets hadn’t been removed yet, and he hissed in pain again.

 

“Ah, Graves. How nice of you to join us.” He heard a voice from his left side. President Picquery was sitting on a chair a couple of feet from his bed. “I stopped by to say how impressed I am with you and Miss Goldstein’s work. The people you apprehended were very important henchmen of Grindelwald’s, and now that they’re locked up as well the chances of Grindelwald escaping are much slimmer.”

 

“That’s great, Madame President.” He spat through gritted teeth. “Now, can you please explain why there are still bullets in me?” 

 

“The holes healed over the bullets.” Picquery explained. “You’re going to have to show the doctors where they’re all lodged.”

 

“Great. Fantastic.”

 

“I’ll leave you to it, then. No offense, but I’d rather not be in the same room as a vampire undergoing bullet extraction surgery.” Picquery smiled. 

 

“None taken.” Graves snarled and leaned back on the bed. Picquery whispered something to the doctors before the group came over. Removing the bullets was almost as bad as getting shot. Despite showing them where he could feel them, the doctors were still practically digging through his abdomen with their scalpels, hoping to find a bullet. They were on the third bullet, lodged in his forearm, when Tina entered the room.

 

“Oh, Graves. We just got back from bringing those Boston wizards over.” She sighed and rushed over. “It’s good to see you're alright.”

 

“It depend on your definition of alright.” He grunted. He could feel one of the doctors slice a nerve in his arm and sat up quickly, hissing at them in pain. “I’m not feeling my best at the moment.”

 

“Good to see you’re alive, then.”

 

“Gonna take more than a couple of bullets to get rid of me.” Percival smiled weakly. 

 

“Sir, there’s currently 7 bullets still lodged in your body.” One of the doctors reminded him.

 

“Oh, shut up.” He snapped. He turned his head back to Tina. “You’d better come back once this is over. This may take - ah, watch it!” He snarled as they roughly removed the third bullet from his arm. Tina flinched.

 

“I get what you mean. I’ll be back to talk to you later.” 

 

It took the group of three doctors nearly an hour and a half to find and successfully extract each and every bullet. The one near his heart was the trickiest; if they had even pricked his heart just the tiniest bit with their scalpels things would have gone down south  _ very _ quickly. They left after the surgery was over, telling him to get some rest.

 

Percival eyed the glass of blood they left on the dresser. He didn’t want to drink it. He had been a vampire for months now, and still had managed to avoid drinking blood. He relied completely on the potion replica.  _ Oh, just do it. You need to heal _ . Percival sighed and closed his eyes, bring the glass to his lips and taking a cautious sip. After that he couldn’t stop himself from draining the glass in seconds. As soon as he finished it he knew the fake potions weren’t going to be enough for his hunger anymore.

 

Tina walked in as he was setting the red-stained glass back on the dress. He was still forced in bed (the doctors said he couldn’t leave for another day due to protocol, but Percival knew he’d be out of there within the hour) but had managed to convince them to let him sit up.

 

“So, I guess you’re in the clear, huh?” Tina smiled. Percival nodded, and she sat down on the edge at the end of the bed.

 

“How’re the guys we picked up in Boston doing?” Percival asked. 

 

“They’re getting interrogated as we speak, and after that they’re getting locked up. We found plenty of dirt to keep them in prison for a while.” 

 

Percival leaned back and sighed. “Well, that’s good to hear.” He sighed.

 

“I think Picquery’s impressed we actually managed to do something.” Tina chuckled.

 

“I know. She told me earlier before the surgery. Hell, I didn’t even think we would do anything like this.” 

 

“I’d say we definitely secured our jobs. Vampire or not, no man is as good at being an Auror as Percival Graves.” Tina choked. Percival groaned in response. “In fact, we have a whole backlog of other missions to take care of once this one’s settled.”

 

Percival groaned. “We can talk about it over lunch tomorrow. Right now I want to sleep for the next three days.”

 

“You can’t eat.” Tina reminded him. As if he had forgotten that. The empty glass of blood stood in the corner of his vision.

 

“You can, though. And we can both talk.” He offered.

 

Tina smiled mischievously. “Are you asking me on a date, Percival Graves?” She joked.

 

Percival looked down for a minute before glancing back at her. “Yeah, I think I am.” He replied. Tina’s mouth dropped a little before she caught herself. She did  _ not  _ expect him to say yes. She just smiled in reply and they sat in silent for a moment.

 

“Listen, about what happened in Boston… thank you. For saving my life, I mean.” Tina broke the silence.

 

Percival shrugged. “It’s nothing. It’s a lot easier to save someone’s life when yours isn’t at risk.”

 

“I know that you would’ve done the same even if you weren’t a vampire.” 

 

Percival was silent after that one. “It wasn’t a choice.” He admitted. “I just… reacted.”

 

Tina laughed. “I can still be grateful. And I am. I really, really am.”

 

Percival was about to chuckle before his face split into a huge yawn. Tina glanced at the clock. “It’s almost six o’clock. You should get some sleep.” She offered. He nodded and yawned again in agreement.

 

“I expect you by my office at 1 tomorrow for lunch.” Tina smiled. She stood up and walked towards his end of the bed. It was getting hard to keep his eyes open, and sleep clouded his vision. “Sleep tight.” Tina whispered before planting a soft kiss on his cheek. 

 

Percival fell asleep with a smile on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> Just write a draft, I said. It'll only be a short story, 2000 words tops, I said. Well I am a GODDAMN LIAR. It's almost 2 am as I'm finishing this. I have family coming over for Thanksgiving tomorrow and another fic to write, not to mention homework. Instead I chose to write a vampire Goldgraves fic because I am ABSOLUTE G A R B A G E. Please forgive me. I'm sorry if there are typos and grammar issues, like I said it's late and I'm pretty sure I was possessed by some demon while writing this.


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